The present invention relates to a vehicle having an on-board vehicle driver dieter""s and passenger-dieter""s weight progress control method and system that manages the measurements of the dieter""s weight during a trip and provides dieting information to conserve the time of the user.
There are a number of weight control systems and methods. Many weight control plans are available to individual users from which the user can select a particular program designed to control the weight of that individual and, associated with such programs are programs involving exercise and like physical activities.
Many different kinds of electrical scales have also been suggested for diet and weight control plans. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,447 entitled xe2x80x9cDiet Scale with Weight Progress Indicatorxe2x80x9d issued to Northcutt in 1982, discloses a diet scale with a digital readout and microcomputer that is used to enable a dieter to enter a diet program having an objective weight and a given time interval. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,792 entitled xe2x80x9cElectronic Scale Apparatus and Method of Controlling Weightxe2x80x9d issued to Cowan in 1984, discloses an apparatus that includes an electronic circuit in which the weight of the individual at the selected point in time can be compared against the base weight. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,244 entitled xe2x80x9cDieter""s Weighing Scalexe2x80x9d issued to Zeigner et al in 1986, discloses a talking electronic scale with microprocessor that compares the goal weight with the present weight to actuate a voice synthesis device to provide preselected comments appropriate to the comparison.
Selecting food and counting the consumption of food calories is a common function of many weight control systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,350 entitled xe2x80x9cNutritional Microprocessor and Methodxe2x80x9d issued to Williams in 1998, discloses a microcomputer and method for selecting food, nutrients, vitamins, and physical activities from different databases and compares the user""s daily dietary and physical activities to the user""s recommended dietary allowance. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,564 entitled xe2x80x9cSystem and Method for Diet Controlxe2x80x9d issued to Ecer in 1995, there is disclosed a diet control system that employs xe2x80x9csmart cardsxe2x80x9d having memory and microprocessor for writing information at a food store or a restaurant check-out counter for collecting electronically the dietary nutritional consumption. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,691 entitled xe2x80x9cApparatus to Control Diet and Weight Using Human Behavior Modification Techniquesxe2x80x9d issued to Abrams et al in 1997, there is disclosed a hand-held computer which prepares and monitors a goal-oriented weight, nutrition, and exercise control program. In Abrams et al the preferred embodiment can be applied to manage a low cholesterol diet, a diabetic""s diet, and a hypertension control diet. Abrams et al suggest that the disclosed embodiment must be redesigned in each case if different diet plans are to control.
All the above described patents require the dieter to have the scale on the floor at home and have the same weighing procedure. Thus the dieter has to find time to step up on the scale. As a result, the described patents do not help a dieter who is busy and highly active to choose a diet and lose weight and keep health in a good condition. These activities often depend on a mood, physical state, and free time of the individual. As a result, individual very often does not obey the requirements of the lose weight program and exercise plans on time or does not accomplish them.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,559 entitled xe2x80x9cPortable Weighing Scalexe2x80x9d issued to Fish et al in 1977, discloses a weighing scale of reduced size to permit the weighing of an individual while standing with one foot on the platform of the scale. This kind of scale helps a dieter a little bit to work with the diet plan because it shortens the time and reduces the facilities for the weight measurement.
Furthermore, many people travel much by the car. They are often on a business trip or are driving during holidays, vacations, or weekends. It is very hard for them to check and control their weight during that period of time.
One more shortcoming of the Abrams et al and the other described systems is that the computer is programmed with only a sample of selectable menu choices, but not rather with the different diet plans themselves. Thus the dieter often cannot select a diet plan which then will be followed to generate the choices very fast.
It is the principal object of the present invention to expand the utility of a motor vehicle, especially a passenger vehicle such as an automobile, a van and even a boat, so that the time spent in the vehicle can be utilized more efficiently and the interaction of the vehicle with the driver and/or passenger can be improved.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved weight progress identifying and control system which can utilize time of a dieter which is often wasted and which can reliably assist in weight control and monitoring without requiring the dieter to set aside specific times for that purpose or to travel to a specific location as a precondition for such monitoring.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method of weight control which avoids drawbacks of earlier methods and which can be practiced more conveniently than earlier methods.
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the invention, in an automotive vehicle equipped to provide an automatic weighing of the driver and/or passenger and provided with the ability to monitor that weight, manage a weight control program, and provide whatever information may be required for the dieter in that regard. The invention utilizes computer facilities which can normally be present in a modern automotive vehicle and is enhanced by a touch screen input device which allows dialoging between the on-board computer and the driver and/or passenger.
While the preferred weighing device for the driver or a passenger is the weight-responsive unit used to control operation of an air bag, it can be a unit which is separate from the air bag control system. It may, for example, be a floor unit which is engaged by the user with only one foot.
Prior to the present invention, there was no the on-board vehicle weight progress control method and system that could identify and monitor weight progress of a driver dieter and passenger dieters to establish weight goals for each dieter in a vehicle.
The present invention provides an on-board vehicle weight progress control system (BOVECS) that identifies the weight progress of a dieter in the vehicle independently from the seasonal changes of the clothing and/or footwear of the dieter by a weight identifier.
The on-board vehicle weight progress control system manages measurement of the dieter""s weight during a time when he or she is in the vehicle seat during a trip and does not waste extra time for this procedure and cannot forget about and miss the weight measurement. That makes the BOVECS more reliable than other weight management systems.
The present invention provides a safety service for the driver dieter by the use of an algorithm of availability during a trip and a traffic recognition routine.
The on-board system of the present invention is thus a more reliable weight progress control system and method that will help the driver dieter to shorten the time and attention of the dieter""s activities to lose weight and manages health in a good condition.
The present invention is the on-board vehicle weight progress identifying and control system that allows the driver-dieter to choose a diet plan and exercises from the plurality of the diet plans and exercises in the memory of the on-board vehicle microcomputer.
The on-board vehicle microcomputer is coupled to an microcomputer controlled driver weighing device upon which the driver-dieter is weighed. As a driver weighing device, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,838 entitled xe2x80x9cSystem and Method for Determining the Weight of a Person in a Seat in a Vehiclexe2x80x9d issued to Walker in 2000, may be used. This system detects the weight of a person seated in a vehicle seat and sends a signal to the air bag actuation controller if the output voltage of the operational amplifier is greater than the predefined level. The other device that may be used for the same purposes is a system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,325 entitled xe2x80x9cSeat Weight Measuring Apparatusxe2x80x9d issued to Aoki in 2000, where a seat weight measuring apparatus measures a seat weight including a weight of a passenger sitting on an automotive seat.
The microcomputer controlled driver weighing device provides a direct input to the on-board vehicle microcomputer of the weight of that driver-dieter at the time driver-dieter is in the vehicle, which weight is used as an input variable to cause the vehicle microcomputer, based upon the driver-dieter selection of a particular weight control plan or program, to generate menu information and exercise information to permit maintenance of a particular program of weight control, whether that program involves weight loss or weight maintenance.
The present invention allows the passenger dieter also to choose a diet plan and exercises from the plurality of the diet plans and exercises in the memory of the on-board vehicle microcomputer, and on-board vehicle weight progress identifying and control system weighs the passenger dieter when he or she is in the vehicle during a trip.
The on-board vehicle weight progress control system provides identification of the real weight of the driver-dieter and progress control system provides identification of the real weight of the driver-dieter and passenger-dieter by monitoring weight of the driver-dieter and passenger-dieter and excluding extreme changes in the weight graph upon the seasonal changes of the driver-dieter""s or passenger-dieter""s clothing and/or footwear.
For the correlating weights of driver dieters of different age, gender, and physical types with respective weight-control diet plans, recommendations of the book Bowes and Church""s Food Values of Portions Commonly Used 15th edition revised by Jean A. T. Pennington, Ph.D., R. D. Harper and Row, Publishers, New York, 1989, can be employed.
According to a feature of the invention, the on-board vehicle microcomputer stores menu items of a plurality of diet plans (vegetarian, by age, religion, number of calories, country, illness, fast diets, etc.) and utilizing the touch screen of the on-board vehicle microcomputer, the driver dieter or passenger dieter can select the menu item information of one of these diet plans for outputting to the touch screen. This procedure using classified diet plans simplifies the employing of the on-board weight progress control system.
According to another feature of the invention, codes can be stored in the on-board vehicle microcomputer representing a plurality of the driver dieters and passenger dieters that are likely to travel in the vehicle. These can be members of the vehicle owner""s family and, again, utilizing the touch screen, the current driver dieter or passenger dieter can input the code representing that driver dieter or passenger dieter for comparison with a stored code which will identify the driver dieter or passenger dieter whose weight is being inputted through the weighing device.
Previous weights can be memorized by the on-board vehicle microcomputer and each new weight can be compared with previously memorized weights and the menu item information and the exercise information can be automatically generated by the comparison of the new weight of the current driver dieter or passenger-dieter with the previously memorized weights.
When a number of successive weights are memorized, a graph of weights of the driver dieter or passenger dieter can be displayed over a period of time and if desired, the on-board vehicle microcomputer can be programmed to extrapolate to some future date a weight control pattern.
The automatic estimation of the future weight pattern can be based upon the assumption of ingestion of the displayed menu items.
The display of a future weight pattern can also be based upon following by the driver dieter or passenger dieter to displayed exercise information.
An important feature of the invention is that the driver dieter or passenger dieter may establish his or her weight control plan by using a fitness status screen.